The head of the largest shelter i the U.S. for homeless LGBT youth has written an open letter to Pope Francis asking for his support for these teens.

Carl Siciliano’s letter, published as a full-page ad in The New York Times, asks the pope to counter the religious rejection of LGBT youth by their families which is so often the cause of homelessness. Siciliano is founder and executive director of the Ali Forney Center in New York City, and also a former Benedictine monk and gay Catholic man.

In the letter reported on by LGBTQ Nation, he urges Pope Francis to reverse the hierarchy’s teaching that homogenital acts are wrong and that a homosexual orientation is disordered, writing:

“I ask you to take urgent action to protect them from the devastating consequences of religious rejection, which is the most common reason…